The Road Ahead
by KaitieD
Summary: After everything that's happened, Bruce has to get away.


Bruce stood in the busy terminal, unaware of the swarming mass of humanity around him. Staring up at the board overhead, he just gazed at the never-ending flow of red words and numbers crossing the screen. Destinations, times, gate numbers…they all flowed past his eyes, a constant stream of information that he wasn't taking in.

He'd made it to the airport, but wasn't sure where to go from there. He just knew it was time. Things hadn't been bad since New York, at least at first. He had worried about how everyone would treat him, having seen the Other Guy in action. It was one thing to have heard about him, or seen video, but up close and personal was a whole other experience. But in the end, everyone handled it well, they caught the bad guy, and Bruce had even been asked to stick around.

That had caught him by surprise and his first instinct had been to run for the hills, but he thought it over and thought that maybe it was time to stay and see what would happen. He certainly didn't have the Other Guy under complete control, but things were improving. And with everyone else around him, supporting him, maybe he could come to an understanding with his alter ego.

So he stayed. And it was great for awhile. But things, as they always do, changed and people moved on with their lives. Sure, the Avengers were still a team and still saved humanity from whatever the threat-of-the-day was, but they honestly weren't needed all that often. And Bruce the least of all. He understood why, he was too great a liability for anything less than the complete destruction of the world, but still. It was hard to take sometimes.

Sighing, he forced himself to focus on the words in front of him, deciding what new destination would be best. Bruce knew that even after a brief time surrounded by people he now considered friends, returning to a life of solitude wouldn't be as easy as it had been before, but it was what he knew. What was best for everyone. Making his decision, he walked over to the nearest desk and purchased his ticket, preparing for the two hour wait before his flight left.

Settling in, he thought over how he'd miss everyone. He'd grown close to Natasha after their initial meeting. Even after her run-ins with the Hulk, she never treated him differently. Clint, Steve, and Coulson had all become friends as well and he smiled at some of the memories that flickered through his mind of late nights in Stark Tower, playing cards, watching movies, and just hanging out with the guys. Something he hadn't done for so long. He'd even miss Thor, though the team saw very little of the Asgardian god once everything on Earth had been handled.

Then of course there was Tony. It sounded childish, and Bruce couldn't even think the words without sounded like an eight year-old, but Tony had quickly become his best friend. Not that there was a lot of competition, but they just clicked and had so much in common. There had been very few people in Bruce's life that could keep up with him intellectually, particularly when it came to science, but Tony could. And from the moment they met, Tony had refused to handle him with kid gloves, making him feel immediately accepted and as comfortable as he could be.

But, Tony had gone through some stuff recently, and things were just different. He hit some rough patches, but with Pepper, Rhodey, and everyone else, he seemed to be making his way through them. Bruce had been there for him too, of course, but it was becoming hard for him to handle. Which was selfish, he knew, but he couldn't help feeling it anyway.

"Going somewhere?"

Bruce jumped, shaken out of his thoughts by an unexpected voice. Looking up from where his eyes had been staring at the floor, he saw Tony standing there in front of him. At first glance, he looked faintly amused at finding Bruce sitting in an airport lounge with bags packed and a ticket in hand, but Bruce could see the worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, thought it was time" Bruce answered, not sure what else to say. He didn't really need to explain himself, but he knew Tony cared and just wanted to look out for him.

"Didn't even bother saying goodbye?"

"I was going to call, or write, once I got somewhere. I'm not great with goodbyes" Bruce said honestly.

"You can't just up and leave like this. Something has to be wrong" Tony pushed, knowing there was more that Bruce wasn't saying.

He knew that there had been something on Bruce's mind lately, but figured the scientist would figure it out for himself. Neither one of them were big on discussing their feelings and had more than enough past issues to deal with, so he hadn't wanted to push. And, if he was honest with himself, he'd had his hands full with the Mandarin situation and picking up the pieces afterward. Bruce had been there to help where he could, but a lot of it was stuff that Tony had to do himself.

The change had been subtle, but Tony knew it was there. Something had changed in their friendship, and he wasn't sure what it was or how to fix it.

"It's – nothing" Bruce said, debating whether to even get started on it. Part of him wanted to just blurt it all out, stupid and selfish as it was, but the rest of him held back. Why make Tony feel bad about something that he shouldn't? Just because Bruce was too sensitive to deal with the hand life had dealt him.

"It's not nothing, obviously" Tony said, gesturing to where they were. "Not too get too in touch with our feelings, but you know I'm here for you if you needed something" he said.

"No, I know. And I appreciate it, Tony. It's just something I have to deal with and get over. I thought it would be easier to do that somewhere else."

"Fair enough, but why don't you at least fill me in on what it is. C'mon, I'll buy you a drink before you leave. Our own little bon voyage party, if you insist on going."

Bruce shook his head, but stood, knowing that Tony would get his way one way or another. And if he was going to give in, better to have some alcohol in his system to dull his senses a bit.

Settled at a table in a dark corner of the airport bar, Tony leaned forward, elbows resting on the table top. "Ok, spill."

Bruce lifted the beer to his lips, taking a sip to delay having to answer. He didn't know if Tony would understand and even if he did, it was still embarrassing.

"It's just – ok, look at it this way" he began, unsure of how to best explain. "We're all suddenly thrown into this new situation, right? SHIELD, aliens, superheroes, all of it. And it's a lot. And I wanted to get as far away from all of it as I could originally, but after everything that happened, I felt almost…normal."

He took a deep breath, glancing up to see Tony listening intently before looking back down at his fingers, peeling the label off his bottle of beer.

"Sure, I'm not what anyone would consider normal, obviously. But here I was, surrounded by others who were different and could use that for good instead of hurting people. And it was great for awhile. But then Natasha and Clint are off to do SHIELD work, Thor went home, Cap has his thing going on, so there was just you. And you had your situation, but you were there for me and I knew that you could understand the feeling. That feeling of having something wrong with you, but having to live with it and make the best of it."

Looking up again, Bruce saw Tony's brow furrowed in confusion, not sure where this was going. With a sigh, he forced himself to continue now that he'd started.

"I guess it just kind of hit me after you had it taken out" he said, gesturing to Tony's chest where the arc reactor had previously been. "You had that constant reminder of your past and what you'd been through, but now it's gone. You cured yourself. If you wanted to walk away from it all tomorrow and leave everything behind, you could. You could go and pretend none of it ever happened. You fixed it. But I can't do that."

Shaking his head in shame, Bruce refused to meet Tony's eyes anymore. "I know I should deal with it and not be jealous, but I can't. At first, it was like we were all broken in our own ways. Lost in the world, dealing with our pasts, trying to find our place. But you guys have. And I haven't. I'm still a danger to everyone around me and I don't know if I'll ever be able to have total control over him. So I need to go, find out where I stand and where to go from here. I know you probably can't understand," he finished, trailing off.

"No, I do. I mean, I think I do. I'm sorry," he gestured helplessly, "I wish that I could fix you too-"

"No, that not what I meant" Bruce stopped him. "I don't blame you, or expect you to do anything for me. It's just hard to sit back and watch everyone else succeeding when you're not, you know?"

"We can figure it out, how to help you. We're pretty much the two smartest guys in the world" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"That's true" Bruce said smiling.

"But you're still going to go?"

"Yeah, I have to. At least for a while."

"I came here to bring you back, you know."

"I know" Bruce nodded. "And I really appreciate you coming here. More than you know."

"Just promise me you'll come back. Whether or not you figure anything out, even if it's not to stay. Just don't disappear on us, huh?"

"Ok" Bruce said simply after thinking for a moment. It was nice to know that he was still welcome and would maybe even be missed. He didn't think there were many people in the world who even thought of him often.

Tony smiled and signaled for another round of drinks, ready to wait with Bruce until his flight arrived; trying to offer his friend all the silent support he could for the road ahead.


End file.
